161 A BIRD CALENDAR 



tory begin to arrive in the plains of India in 

 September. The merlins come only into the 

 Punjab, but most of the other raptores spread 

 over the whole of India. 



The various species of harrier make their 

 appearance in September. These are birds 

 that cannot fail to attract attention. They 

 usually fly slowly a few feet above the surface 

 of the earth so that they can drop suddenly 

 on their quarry. They squat on the ground 

 when resting, but their wings are long and 

 their bodies light, so that they do not need 

 much rest. Those who shoot duck have occa- 

 sion often to say hard things of the marsh- 

 harrier and the peregrine falcon, because these 

 birds are apt to come as unbidden guests to 

 the shoot and carry off wounded duck and teal 

 before the shikari has time to retrieve them. 



Of the migratory birds of prey the kestrel 

 is perhaps the first to arrive ; the osprey and 

 the peregrine falcon are among the last. 



Very few observations of the comings 

 and the goings of the various raptorial birds 

 have been recorded ; in the present state of 

 our knowledge it is not possible to compile 

 an accurate table showing the usual order in 

 which the various species appear. This is a 



